Mercedes-Benz Apps tour (photos)

The Mercedes-Benz display at CES 2012 included this standalone version of its head unit, featuring the Mbrace2 connected system. This screen shows the familiar Mercedes-Benz COMAND graphic interface. But Mercedes-Benz has added a carousel structure for its menus. The carousel card reading COMAND Online will change to Mercedes-Benz Apps in the production version.

Photo by: Antuan Goodwin/CNET

For safety, most of these app functions are disabled while the car is in motion. The apps carousel shows Google local search, which is integrated with the navigation system, Facebook, and an AP news reader.

Photo by: Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Further apps include Yelp, Morningstar Finance for stock prices, and a means of importing destinations to the car from external sources.

Photo by: Antuan Goodwin/CNET

The Facebook app is very full-featured, letting the driver check in to a location via Places, view friends' profiles, see events, and even update his or her own status.

Photo by: Antuan Goodwin/CNET

When the car is stopped, the driver can write a status message, although the rotary dial for entering letters makes this process tedious. While under way, the driver can choose from some templates for status updates, even ones that use the navigation information to let friends know when he or she will arrive at a destination.

Photo by: Antuan Goodwin/CNET

The newsreader covers a variety of categories. The system will show headlines when the car is moving, but not story text. The driver can select a headline and choose to e-mail the story to a previously stored address.

Photo by: Antuan Goodwin/CNET

The Yelp app lists nearby restaurants complete with crowdsourced rating information. The Yelp listings are also integrated with the navigation system, making it possible to set a restaurant as the destination.

Photo by: Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Mercedes-Benz integrates Google Street View into many of these apps. If a driver finds a promising listing in Yelp, he or she can call up the Street View to see what the storefront looks like, making it easier to find on arrival at the location.

Photo by: Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Mbrace2 brings in Panoramio, which lets a driver view crowdsourced photos of many locations around the car.

Photo by: Antuan Goodwin/CNET

After looking at a Panoramio photo, the driver can scroll to right or left to see photos of other nearby places.

Photo by: Antuan Goodwin/CNET

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